$700 for a pair of Manolos? Step right up.

Wearing a tan suit and orange suede slippers with grosgrain ribbon, stiletto king Manolo Blahnik held court yesterday at the Union Square Neiman Marcus, signing shoes and posters and posing for endless snapshots with adoring customers.

A DJ spun tunes as servers handed out blackberry sodas and platters of petit fours and mini carrot cake muffins. Models stood on a pedestal, wearing cocktail dresses and fur coats, along with bejeweled high heeled sandals.

Blahnik made a last-minute, unscheduled appearance here, but word got out quickly and he was greeted by a roomful of fans snapping up his wares. The prices still cause a double take: a low-heeled fuchsia satin mule is $685, a high heel metallic silver peep-toe pump goes for $725.

OK, they’re gorgeous.

Manolos are now as much associated with the man himself as with Carrie Bradshaw of “Sex and the City,” the cable series that made the brand a household word.

Customer Seneca Anderson, a legal secretary in San Francisco, has made a point to show up at Neiman’s — which carries more Manolos than any other store in S.F. — whenever Blahnik makes a personal appearance.

“The first time I came, about 10 years ago, we sat on the couch for an hour and a half and talked,” she said.

What about the crowds?

“Nobody knew who he was then,” she said. “There were hardly any people here.”

Not so on Tuesday, when more than a hundred women stopped by.

Anderson is one of those shoe nuts who collects Manolos the way other people collect salt and pepper shakers. “Oh, I’ve lost count of how many pairs I have,” she said.

With all due respect, has Ms. Anderson seen the headlines lately?? I had to ask: How do you justify spending $600 on a pair of shoes during the second Great Depression?

Anderson smiled demurely.

“Well, my husband cuts my hair, I give myself manicures and pedicures. I try to buy my Manolos on sale, if possible. And when it comes to clothes, I buy classics that last.” Case in point: Her salmon-colored Chanel suit from 1990.

After signing dozens of pairs of shoes — about 150 pair were sold during his appearance — Blahnik was off to another city.

I just had to ask: Does he have a “recessionista” shoe in mind? He looked blank. You know, more affordable versions?

He seemed to bristle a bit.

“I don’t think the law applies,” he said. “I want to make even better shoes, more shoes made by hand, and the cost shouldn’t matter. Maybe my customers will buy fewer pairs, but they will still invest in my shoes, no matter what the price.”